Automobile jack



' Mal-d114, 1933. L. E. PRYOR 1,3

AUTOMOBILE JACK Filed Feb 1, 1952 INVENTOR L.E.Pry-0r BY Q ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 14, 1933 v UNITED STATES LEO E. PBYOR, or nnneno, CALIFORNIA AUTOMOBILE JACK Application filed February 1, 1932. Serial at. 590,039.

or other member of the car and to also lessen the subsequent turning or other movement of the operating handle or lever'necessary to raise the axle. By means of this jack the soilingof the clothing now almost inevitable with the actions necessary to place the jack in position is avoided, the time and labor of tire changing operations are reduced, and most important of all, the danger of the jack slipping from place when supporting the load and letting the car down with probable harm to the operator is eliminated.

Essentially, the features of my improved jack which enable the above objects to be attained, consist of a special head on the jack adapted to convenient locating and subsequent gripping engagement With theraxle so that the jack cannot slip from place, and connecting means between the stem on which the head is mounted and the main'stem and body of the jack, to enable the latter parts, when the head is thus engaged with the axle, to drop of themselves so that the base of the jack will contact with the ground without any manual turning or raising of the main jack stem being necessary to span the distance between the ground and the axle, be fore any raising of the axle is effected.

A further object of the invention is "to produce a simple and inexpensive device and yet one whlchwill be exceedingly efi'ective for the purpose for which it is designed. I

These objects I accomplish by means of' such structure and relativ-e'arrangement of 0 parts as will fully appear by a perusalof the following specification and claims.

In the drawing similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several views: i'

Fig. 1 is a side view of my improved jack as in position when being initially applied to an axle. 7

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of the jack head shown in full engagement with the axle.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the jack with the stems partly extended,

PATENT OFFICE:

showing the automatic adjustment feature of the inner stem. r Fig. 4 is a rear view of the j-aclrhead. Fig, 5 is a cross section on the line 5 -5 of Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on the drawing, the

jack shown is of the standard screw typeand essentially comprises a body 1 in which the screw 2 is mounted. The screw is raised and lowered by means of the conventional gear mechanism controlled by an operating rod which at one end detachably fits in the 'socketed hub 3 of the operating pinion of the jack. In the present case thisrodis shown as comprising a pair of telescoping sections 4 and 5, the outer'section 5 having a turnable grip 6 at its outer end and a crank handle 7 just beyond the grip. In this manner the weight of the jack may be readily supported and the jack stem manipulated by the rod when held in the two hands.

The screw stem is hollow and slidablylbut nonturnably mounted therein is the inner jack stem 8, having a row of downwardly facing ratchet teeth 9 down one side. A pawl 10 is slidably mounted in the stem 2 at its upper end to engage any of the teeth, said body and other parts of'the jack are unsupr ported from the ground, said body will drop of itself so that the jack base contacts with.

the ground, and the inner stem will be partly projecting from theouter stem. .In other words,thejack as a whole will be lengthened other manual operation being necesary. To

Without any turning of the screw stem or thus cause the inner stem to be supported by the axle in depending relation thereto by the act of shoving the jack horizontally into place, I provide a special type of axle engaging head on the top of the inner stem. This head comprises 'a curved lower jaw member 12 turnably mounted on the upper end "of'said inner stem and extending'rear-.

aw up against the axle.

wardly from a forward termination a short distance ahead of the axial plane of the stem to a point above the center of the axle 18 to be engaged and r-earwardly of the plane of said axle. Extending upwardly and forwardly from the upper rear end of the lower jaw so as to pass over the top of the axle is a similar but oppositely curved upper jaw 14:, said jaws being pivoted together at their adjacent ends as at 15. The upper jaw is normally held swung back to a certain extent by a snap action spring 16 between the aws,

the axial line of the spring of course passing rearwardly of the pivot 15 when the upper jaw is thus disposed, as shown in Fig. 1. The

jaws are then separated at their forward-ends a distance greater than the diameter of the axle. To hold such separation within certain limits, the members 12 and 14 are provided adjacent the pivot 15 with stop shouldersS or the like, arranged to engage each other when'the cap has been swung upwardly to the desired limit of movement.

Formed with the cap and extending as a continuation thereof below and rearwardly of the pivot and to the sides of the spring 16 are arms 17, having at their lower ends extensions 17 at. These extensions project upwardlythrough a slot 18 cut in the lower jaw member and into the path of'the rear side of the axle so as to engage the same before it becomes verticallyalined with the j ackstem.

To use the jack, the upper jaw must first be cooked by hand, by swinging said jaw upwardly until the shouldersS engage each other, so as to hold the jaws spread and the extensions 17 advanced.

It will therefore be seen that whenthe jack is moved into place from beyond the axle, by means of the operating and supporting rods 4 and 5, and so that the jaws 1 1 and 12 pass above and below the axle, the forward end .of the extensions 17a will engage the back of the axlebefore the latter is properly alined with the jaws and with the jack stem. A further advancing movement of the ack then forces the extensions back, causing the cap to be lowered until the spring 16 passes its dead center position relative to the pivot 15. The spring then functions of itself to pull the upper jaw down on the axle and thelower Said axle, due to the opposed curvature of the jaws is, then located and held in proper centralizing alinement with the ack, and is clamped between the jaws of the hanger by the action of the spring 16. The head jaws thus form a hanger engaging the axle, and from which the inner jack stem depends. The supporting pressure on the jack may then be .released, whereupon the jack bodyand the outer stem. drop to the groundas a unit, leaving the inner stem in a relatively raised position.

When removing the jack it is only necessary to pull the same back with the operating rods so as to overcome the resistance of the spring 16 and thus separate the jaws sufficient to clear the axle. The spring then pulls the upper jaw down relatively close to the t lower j aw so that the head occupies little more space when stored than the ordinary jack head. One spring 16 centrally located between the sides of the head is sufficient for the purpose, and a pair of the pins 15 are therefore used so as to avoid said pins passing across the slot through which the spring moves. This arrangement protects the spring against possible damage by keeping thesame mainly enclosed between the rigid parts of the head.

The jack body having dropped to the ground, the operating unit is manipulated to rotate the screw stem, said screw and inner stem lifting together since the inner stem is held from dropping by thepawl .10, which retracted position of its own weight.

The pawl being then released it will reengage the tooth 9 nearest the top. In order to permit the jackbeing carried by the head as .a handle if desired without the stem '8 being then pulled out,'I may mount a depending pin 20 on the pawl outwardly of the screw. This pin, when the pawl is engaged with the tooth and the screw is fully retracted, engages a socket 21 out in the top of the body. clear of the teeth and the stems are locked together permitting the ack'to be carried by the head without danger of the stems extending relative to each other. If thislocking feature is used it is necessary to raise the ack screw suflicient for the pin to clear the socket before the head is engaged with the axle.

It will thus be seen that the jack may be placed in position much more readily and quickly than is at present the case, with more assurance that it will not slip, since'lateral tilting of the jack is prevented by the head jaws which clamp against the axle and maintain the jack substantially at right angles to the axle. Also the amount of raising of the screw stem necessaryto raise the wheel is lessened, since the initial relative raising movement is automatically taken care of by the dropping of the body and the main screw stem relative to the axle, without rotation of the screw being necessary.

The under side of the cap 14: may be lined with felt 22 or the like so as not to mar the exposed finish of the part engaged. V The head may be made in diiferent sizes to sult The pawl cannot then slide different sizes of axle, though one head has a first named means is] arranged, when the sufiicient range of adaptability to be used upper jaw is thus lowered, to cause the jaws on various axles within a certain size range, to exert a gripping action on the axle.

as well as on springs etc. as must sometimes be done. The head is turnably mounted on the stem so that it may be positioned with its opening disposed at an angle to the operating rods, as is necessary when engaging springs.

From the foregoing descriptionit will be readily seen that I have produced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of the invention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferred construction of the device, still in practice such deviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A jack including aload supporting member, an axle engaging hanger on the upper end of said member, a vertically movable jack element, a stem depending from the member and slidably mounted in the element, said stem having a row of downwardly facing ratchet teeth down one side, a pawl mounted in the element, means holding the i V pawl yieldably engaged with the teeth, a body in which said element is mounted, and means between the pawl and body to hold the pawl against disengagement from the teeth when the element is fully retracted in the body.

2. A structure as in claim 1, in which said means comprises a pin depending fromvthe pawl outwardly of the element, the body having a socket to receive said pin when the element is fully lowered.

3. In a jack having a stem, an axle engaging head on said stem comprising a lower jaw having an upward slant toward one end,

and an upper jaw pivoted on said end of the jaw; said jaws being separated at their free ends, means acting on the upper jaw to normally hold the same separated from the lower jaw a distance greater than the diameter of an axle to be engaged, and means provided with the upper jaw to cause the same to be automatically lowered onto the axle when the latter is projected through the opening beingly engaged with the axle by the action. of

and when the axle is thus projected between said members. i

5. A structure as in claim 3, in which said 7 In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

LEO E. PRYOR. 

